DI: What are your long-term goals?
SM: I am very happy doing what I’m doing now. I’m very excited about covering the White House. I see doing this in the future. Writing a book would be wonderful in the future, to share some of my experiences. I would love to be able to talk to people in the community, whether it’s through speeches or visiting schools. Beyond that, I hope to stay in the news business. This is a nice fit for me.
DI: Whom do you admire in the journalism field?
SM: I can think of two people in the journalism world who come to mind: Maureen Bunyan, who’s an anchor [in the Washington, D.C., area.] and whom I grew up watching as a kid. She’s been a mentor to me. I greatly admire her because of her tenacity, her passion, her seriousness, her tone. She’s always been a class act. I was fortunate enough, privileged enough, to be able to meet her as a young journalist; she took me under her wing.
The other person is Christiane Amanpour because she’s just kind of a rock-and-roll journalist. She’s amazing. Her war coverage is no-nonsense; she gets to the bottom of it. She’s courageous, and those are all qualities that I admire.
DI: What advice do you give to young journalists?
SM: I think there’s a time in your life when you need to be fearless. I don’t think you have to be fearless every day. You don’t have to be fearless during your whole career. But I think there’s a time when you have to really seize the opportunity and just go for it. Be fearless in your pursuit.
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